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As a purist, I do not disagree with you. The reality is this is the same situation as the replacement of the steam train with the current iteration of the 'Dreamworld Express'. I didn't like it, but I understand why they did it. New ride vehicles are more modern improvements on out of date technology, which will no doubt also reduce the maintenance and operating expenses, something the park really needs to do. I think you're getting carried away here. (And again, as a reminder, that I agree with the sentiments you said above, that the loss of the genuine attraction vehicles is a sad day). The first version of Autopia vehicles were awful. The latest versions are cleaner, safer, and resolve many of the issues of days gone by. Monorails got upgraded. Matterhorn sleds changed. And Disney didn't build everything out of genuine parts either. they faked things where necessary. (Spoiler alert - Big Thunder Mountain Trains aren't steam engines, even though they blow "smoke" out of their exhaust stacks!). Just as LPS replaced tango train, Dreamworld replaced the Steam Train... just view the new version as a tribute to what once was, (RIP Little Puff) and be happy that at least some version of the experience remains. (It looks like the iconic barn bridge photo op will return in some capacity too).

Dreamworld bringing Rivertown back is a win for me.

Do you remember the first time you went to Tiger Island and saw people out there. Remember how much that blew your mind that you could have people interact with Tigers like that? Remember having full access to talk to a tiger handler about anything you wanted to know? That is seriously awesome, and makes you really understand and learn for them. It makes you want to stay and be immersed. Without that it just doesn't have the same impact. Also what do you think is better for the animals? Having someone to interact with or just being left out there on their own? The presentations to me form part of environmental enrichment. It's more interesting for them to be engaged with an activity, the sorts of things you do in the presentations are you'd want to do that sort of thing even without a crowd if you cared about keeping them mentally stimulated. It's a real obstacle when you can't interact directly in the same way, it's why so much effort was put into enrichment in the exhibit design for Polar Bears because you lose something when you can't have that. For DW to have it, and then throw it away is insane.

Why do tigers need a performance though, as opposed to other animals? Eg if it was Lion Island or Rhino Island, you wouldn't expect that right?

Grammar Nazi here. This reads like it was written by either AI or someone who uses English as a second language. I can understand churning out garbage fluff articles for free websites to drive traffic and ad revenue, but this is behind a paywall and the standard should be higher. I guess we at least can make some bad poetry out of the mistakes. Best-remember thrill ride. Was famous for giant double loop. Paves... will herald some exciting developments - Gold Coast Bulletin, 2022

Sea World has never had a waveswinger. **** As for the tilted turntable, is that how it could do the forwards and backwards aspect? Train comes onto an inclined section of track and is held (Like on a classic boomerang) turntable spins to align with next section. Train released and you roll by gravity off it again. Could be a cool moment if there is a bit of theming you come face to face with before rotating away.

I havent seen mention of it here, but have on FB, that Tiger Island will also be getting a refurb/remodelling as the park moves away from keeper interaction with the tigers - i.e no longer doing presentations etc. If that is the case, and its basically set to be become a zoo exhibit, then for mine they may as well get rid of it. Tiger Island since day one was about the interaction between tigers and handlers visible to the public, about understanding their natural instincts and behaviours in the wild (as much as possible in a controlled setting). If what we are getting is just a couple of tigers sitting in a smaller location than what is current, i'd be done with it and use the land for better purpose - and thats coming from someone who LOVES tigers.

They’ll stand in the “reserved” seating area no doubt, and likely just be a paid staff member (not a handler) giving a 5min spiel on tiger facts and conservation “tigers are the largest big cats, they are endangered, there’s a box over there for cash donations”. Give it 12 months and it will be “an audio presentation occurs every hour at tiger island” and what was a unique and memorable experience will be replaced by a $500 Bose speaker with a loop track

@Rivals really think you should sit this one out. Really, I mean this in a crazy respectful way, but you don't know these people. They are not against *just this one aspect*. DW are also irresponsible by feeding into the nonsense by suggesting changing attitudes are the reason. I don't want to go into it because what I don't want to do is slag anyone off in a way that can be taken out of context (I deleted a critical post of mine because I worry about nutters taking it, removing crucial context and spinning it. All I'll say, is anyone who cares about animal welfare, should not and as a rule do not take advice from people who care about animal rights. Animal right people can, and do advocate for animal cruelty, and celebrate their success when they achieve it. I've met and worked with many people who work in and care about animal welfare. Not a single one has ever advocated cruelty. Theme parks and zoos are in the animal welfare business.

It's funny having a discussion on how shit the electric cars are over petrol cars and we don't know what we are getting. 🤣

I seriously hope they consider adding water elements to the Wave Swinger! Just like the unit at Phantasialand in Germany. This would be absolutely brilliant and would also help smooth out somewhat the loss of any water attraction at Dreamworld in those hot summer Gold Coast days. This would be a great interim measure before they add a new water ride- which is sorely needed! Having this at the entrance to the park is a winner as it provides instant kinetic energy. If the theming is as per below in any way, this could be a real showstopper and arguably the best opening view of any Aussie theme park.

Tridents ride signage has now been i staled, on top of this we get to see how some of the rest of the area will look at night. 1 week left till opening, who thought it would actually get this close. Credit: Bikash Instagram

Maybe I'm uncultured, but a couple of the Metalbau car rides I did earlier I thought were quite 'nice'. I think the theming is more important than the propulsion system. https://www.parkz.com.au/attraction/dino-xpedition

I think the thing is a lot of this has to do with the Dreamworks licence. Getting around that was always going to be a huge effort. What I do really like about what they've done is rather than say 'How do we patch the area together' they said 'How to we patch the area together, and how does it fit into the broader park?'. It might seem like a small difference, but honestly it really makes a difference. Moving ABC kids from a financial perspective might not make the most sense, but it makes a lot of sense from a 'How do all the elements of the park fit together' perspective. Adding a new ride as a sweetener to that? Yeah cool. As I've said previously, it's a kiddie ride so I don't care, but hopefully the target market will get a kick out of it. Redoing that area of the park with a bushland pioneer theme makes sense because: A. The bushland is already there, and B. Because what was there just got moved. Much like the new coasters at MW, it seems to me that what they've done is add genuine family rides, not kiddie rides that adults can also go on. A decently long family coaster running a few trains (I'm projecting that onto it 😆) makes sense. A ride that literally everyone can go on, makes sense (just throwing it out there you don't even need to get rid of the actual Model Ts). Having a wave swinger at the front also makes a statement about how DW is new. It's not what you remember. But if that ride is done well, the statement it makes is 'It's new, it's different, and you'll like it'. If all this comes in at $50million, I think the return will be a better return than if you built a $50million new coaster (see ST). It comes down to 3 new rides, but it's the reshuffle and new life that I think will be the most compelling part of it, not the new rides. Now $50million isn't much to play with to do all these things, there will be an element of expectation V reality. But if they can stay largely true to it, then they're set up well for 4 years from now when they decide to add a Raptor to the RHLR plot.

I hate to be the cynic, but Atlantis was supposed to be about 24 months too. Sure, covid, but that wasn't the only delay to the project. Either way, its a great suite of investments and even if it takes 3 years, i'm glad they're doing it. I'm not sure the rockin tug will stay in it's current form given the BRB Coaster, and I feel as though Dronkey Fliers is going to have the fibreglass moulding replaced to create BR Planes Bush Rush just didn't feel right... I don't disagree with you, but when I read this, my impression was: They've just lost Patrick, and without his level of experience, they need time to rework things. Without the Alpha (patrick) maybe the other trainers were less confident \ having issues with the ongoing interactions, and they've pared back their offering to a straight up exhibit to minimise the risk of potential incidents while they re-group.

Yeah but Bush Rush as a name brings about connotations that the park would'nt really like to deal with.......... it would have been problematic on so many levels! Jungle Rush certainly isn't accurate but its not too bad IMHO.

It's ticking a few boxes of mine, I've long been vocal about how I think ABC kids clashes with the area it's in, so moving it and using it to fill out a bigger kiddie area is a good move to me. One thing as well, by announcing the new kiddie area before the Dreamworks licence goes away, they've got themselves in front. It comes across like it was the plan all along, rather than a reaction which I think is really clever move of them in an industry where puic perception matters. I've spoken about the themes of K&B and Jungle Rush when I thought it was fan fic so won't go over that again, except to say unless they plan to plant a jungle I'd say it's worth having a serious think if Jungle Rush is the best name. For me the really interesting one will be the wave swinger. I'm nostalgic for the fountain, but I actually am totally on board with getting rid of it for a wave swinger. It would be awesome if you could place it in such a way that it's right in front of you when you enter, and also looks straight down the street at Claw, kind of a double weenie (Or triple if you come up the hill). Aside from that, just throw all the charm you have at it. Like Iron railings, brick paved queue, hedges, topiary, the whole lot. Go to town making the thing stupidly charming. If that means moving the globe somewhere else in the park, so be it (I'd bin it personally but I accept other people like it, and it IS a rather good photo op). Dreamworld used to have a real charm when you walked in, as much I'm nostalgic for the fountain, I'm way more nostalgic for that charm, there's a real chance to bring that back. Rivertown I'm keen on seeing having some charm again too, but for now I don't understand how any of that will work so I'll leave my thoughts there. Overall, rather good. 👍🏻

Exciting stuff!

As amazing as this all sounds, seems 90% of the park will be a construction site for the next 2 years. But this type of an announcement can easily transform the entire park. Its so many little things that together will really make the park seem better as an overall package.

One 20min live show and 4 x 10min meet & greets a day won’t be that difficult to replace. there will not doubt be a Belinda & Kenny live show of sorts, as well as meet & greets

I think the younglings call that “fluid”

316164832_200351079123055_5654889107757715511_n.mp4

You don't think the same people who want to stop interaction want tigers in captivity full stop? More to it here than DW is telling us.

My sketch is very crude, but essentially the train enters onto the yellow track, brakes hold it in place (when the train is on this track it’s either facing forwards or backwards depending on how the ride left the station), then the rotates on the top point axis and ends in the blue position. And this happens on an incline. The brakes then release and the train continues on its journey. So it isn’t a flip track and the track isn’t changing.

They stated the $50 million is the minimum. Jungle Rush is $35 million and the Dreamland project is $15 million. That doesn’t include the new vintage cars, Dreamworld Flyer, splash zone and other works. They also announced 2000 solar panels will be installed. So it could be at least $60 million. But all of this I see as money very well spent. Everything announced is exactly what the park needs, it’s a great direction to head them in, refresh so much of the park. If you look at the park map, these works are for the majority of the parks footprint. And allows for another expansion where the log ride was later in the decade. I also like that we’ll get the Dreamworld Flyer in the first half of next year and Dreamland will be by Christmas next year. I’d say ABC kids world will remain untouched for most of next year while they work on the other kids area. And then later in the year ABC will close so they can begin the works on the new Rivertown.

You forgot to mention @themagicianat the turntable you have to paywave your credit card for the ride to continue in backwards mode. //s

If it's this one, I hope they do two queues, so you can choose your experience. If left to chance I see a bottleneck as people let others go in front because they're waiting for the correct facing seat - like waiting for the front but exponentially worse.

Part of the reason for new vehicles being purchased for the attraction is because they will be introducing wheelchair accessible cars. And my understanding is the new cars will be more secure so guests can’t just get out of them if they wanted too.

Just found this in the GCB article: One of the biggest changes coming for the park will be on its renowned Tiger Island, where direct contact between tigers and handlers is set to be phased out within 18 months as public amid shifting public sentiment around performing animals. Despite the change, Dreamworld said Tiger Island would remain a fixture at the park, with guests still able to view them, and that it would continue to support tiger conservation projects in the field via Wildcats Conservation Alliance. Doesn't fly for me. You're either all in or all out. The tigers got enrichment interacting with the handlers on the island, they've been raised with it and accustomed to it. Without handlers on the island, i also believe it limits the amount of tigers that can be on the island at once as there is no-one to "manage" the behaviours or immediately react if the tigers decide to go at it. So the tiger island we used to see with 4-5-6 tigers out with 2-3 handlers will now become what i saw on Saturday which was 2 tigers out, no handlers, and therefore no people taking any notice.

Also, these animals are normally lazy so the presentation displays what they can do on a regular timetable, rather than someone seeing from pure luck. just like sea world with their dolphin and seal shows. Edit: Australia Zoo do this also, and for this reason, a show of their behaviours and information session.

It was never about performances. The whole concept of TI was that you could see these wild animals interacting safely with their human counterparts, the relationships built between the handlers and the tigers, that you could ask questions and get information, see the conservation message firsthand etc. That was what set TI apart from a zoo exhibit you'd see at Taronga or Melbourne. If that appeal and point of difference is going, then IMO, so should the tigers.

Just crazy speculation on my half but maybe they lost Patrick because he was not in favour of this new direction.

Stopping performance is one thing (a very stupid thing, but it's a thing), taking the people off Tiger Island all together? Someone is seriously smoking something out there.

I never said to my mother. I want to ride the vintage cars because it has genuine Model-T Ford parts.

Dreamworld | The Future of Dreamworld New web page.

Is it just me, or does Jungle Rush remind anyone of dollywood's upcoming 2023 big bear mountain coaster. They both family oriented and built by vekoma overall i'm VERY impressed with the new additons, really heads the park in the right direction!

Surprisingly there was nothing in the bulletin last night so they must be announcing in park today